Remodeling Lessons from Applebees

Applebee’s is a long-running American chain that most locals have heard of. They have stayed around for a very long time while still remaining somewhat popular. We’ll go over why that is and why it relates to how you manage your own home or business. There are many lessons to be found in older businesses that you may not notice at first. Today we’ll obviously be discussing this one for you. Even those just planning for their own home bar might want to take note of it.

Applebee’s is known for comfort food and a comfortable style of furniture. Both of these come together with an average, working-man sort of atmosphere. People are meant to feel comfortable in such a setting and they definitely do.

So how do these places stay open so long without everything getting stale? Remodeling is the biggest way in which they do this. The most common method to do this is by changing things to match whatever the modern style is. As you well know this changes with the passing of every year so most businesses do this every 5 to 10 years. Since this can get so expensive they cannot really afford to do it every single year.

Remodeling locations in this way actually takes millions of dollars. However it is worth spending the money because it keeps people coming back for a fresh experience. This is as true today as it was hundreds of years ago when the extremely wealthy would change things for major festivals and other big events as well. Individual locations take a few hundred thousand dollars but they need to do this with a huge number of them over time. All bars should remodel here and there.

Everything changes over the years from their outdoor patio furniture to other basic items. Technology is one area in which everything updates. With additional lighting and new televisions it makes sense that all of this would be updated over the years. As far as technology it gets updated much more often than many of the other items which are a part of any setting like this.

Changes in the color of the setting are significant as well. In one area in Glendale they will be putting up yellow and green panels. This is a big departure from the red colors which dominated so many areas of Applebee’s in the past.

Some parts of the restaurant are changing entirely. For example touchscreen tables are going to be a part of every single table in the future. This means that instead of having the various servers roaming about people will simply be ordering at the table. This hi-tech method has been used with great results in many previous installations. One day this will likely be the industry standard.

Getting rid of old items is also a big part of any restructuring. Their previous decorations are going to be auctioned off to aid the Make-a-Wish foundation. In this way it helps them improve their public image as well. So there are many benefits to using this in your own business.